Beta Phase Decomposition in a TiAl Alloy during Continuous Cooling

Abstract:

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Beta phase decomposition in Ti-44Al-4Nb-4Hf-0.1Si during continuous cooling from β
phase field has been investigated. A wide cooling rate range (0.3-1000°Cs-1) was provided by
mainly using Jominy end quenching, which has been introduced into TiAl research recently,
together with iced brine quench (IBQ) and furnace cooling (FC). At different cooling rates beta
phase decomposes via different paths through diffusion or diffusionless mechanisms and lamellar
transformation may occur after β decomposition at certain cooling rates.

Abstract: Effects of niobium content and cooling rate on ferrite and bainite start temperatures (Ar3, Bs) and microstructural features have been studied in niobium bearing ultralow carbon microalloyed steels. The Ar3 and Bs temperatures decrease as niobium content or cooling rate is increased. The dependence of Ar3 on cooling rate is greater than that of Bs in all niobium contents. The bainitic ferrite laths become longer and narrower with increasing niobium content and cooling rate, and niobium also shows a tendency to decrease polygonal ferrite grain size.

Abstract: The dilatation curves of continuous cooling transformation at different cooling rates were determined for U75V rail steel by THERMECMASTOR-Z thermal simulator, and continuous cooling transformation curve was obtained. The influence of cooling rate on microstructure and hardness was studied. The softening behavior after isothermal deformation in the austenite region 850-1000°C but before the second pass was also studied by double-pass compression tests. The results show that the product of austenite decomposition was pearlite when the cooling rate was lower than 10°C. Troostite and martensite were gained at the cooling rate of 10°C•s-1. Only martensite was obtained when the cooling rate was in the range of 10-50°C•s-1. The hardness of the steel increased with the increase of cooling rate. Under the condition of 30% deformation and 3s-1 deformation rate, the relaxation time for completing recrystallization was shorter than 100s when the deformation temperature was higher than 1000°C. When the deformation temperature was lower than 880°C, full recrystallization was difficult to achieve even if the relaxation time was extended.

Abstract: Austenite/ferrite phase transformations in Fe-xCu-10Ni alloys, 0<x<15 (mass%), are studied under two different cooling conditions, ice-brined quenching or slow cooling in the dilatometer. The influence of copper addition and cooling rate on the microstructure of the alloys is studied. Metallographic examinations of quenched samples show that metastable transformations occur during cooling. As for Fe-Ni alloys, it is impossible to stabilize the high temperature phase (γFeNi) in the Fe-Ni-Cu alloys. Dilatometry measurements of the γ → α transformation temperature with a cooling rate of 2°C/min also indicate a metastable phase formation despite the low cooling rate. For all alloys, a mixture of massive and lath ferrite is observed, one being predominant depending on the cooling conditions and composition. It is shown that the cooling rate has nearly no influence on the microstructure of alloys with a small amount of Cu unlike the alloys containing more Cu. In all alloys containing Cu, nanometric γCu precipitates, much finer in the quenched samples, are detected in the ferrite grains.

Abstract: The microstructure and carbide precipitate of simulated coarse grain heat affected zone(CGHAZ) in modified high Cr ferritic heat-resistant steel at different cooling rates have been investigated by means of thermal simulator, optical microscope, SEM and TEM . It was found that the microstructure of CGHAZ of testing steel was mainly lath martensite and δ-ferrite under the different welding thermal cycles. However, the prior austenite grain size reduced with increasing the cooling rate. Furthermore, with increasing the cooling rate, the amount of carbide precipitate inside laths of martensite increased, and the size and morphology of precipitates have changed from elongated and coarse to needlelike and fine.

Abstract: Shielded Active Gas Forge Welding (SAG-FW) is a solid state bonding process in which two mating surfaces are locally heated and forged together to form a bond. SAG-FW has so far mainly been used to join materials for pipe-line and casing applications. The present study has been conducted on an API 5CT L80 grade material in a prototype forge welding machine. Small-scale pipe specimens have been extracted from the wall of the production casing. The SAG-FW process is completed within a few seconds of heating and forging followed by controlled cooling. The microstructure of the weld is determined by the processing parameters. In this paper, microstructure results for SAG-FW processed L80 material have been obtained for a range of cooling rates and systematically compared with microhardness values. Microstructure observations at different regions of the weld have been made. Faster heating rate and controlled cooling resulted in a mixture of non equilibrium microstructures, but satisfactory mechanical properties have been obtained for optimized processing parameters.